Nancy Larraine Hoffmann
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Nancy Larraine Hoffmann is a former state senator and go-go dancer from New York. She is a Republican and a resident of Central New York.
She was first elected in 1984 to the New York State Senate representing Syracuse, New York and the suburban and rural areas surrounding Syracuse as a Democrat and was a Democratic senator until 1999 when she became a Republican. Hoffmann switched parties not for ideological reasons but to gain power and influence from being in the legislative majority. Prior to becoming a senator, she served as a city councilwoman in Syracuse.
As a senator she was Ranking Minority Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee from 1985 to 1999 and Chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee from 1999 to 2005. She and her family own a farm in Onondaga County, New York. Considered a liberal Republican, Hoffmann faced challenges and criticism from the conservative wing of her party for being pro-choice and a supporter of gay rights. In February of 2003 the Syracuse Post Standard reported that she was the costliest legislator in Central New York costing tax payers $386,183 for office and staff expenses in a six month period. Part of that expense included the $18,200 a year salary earned by her boyfriend Gary Nastasi as her special assistant. A scathing editorial in the Syracuse Post Standard referred to his employment as 'tax payer subsidized companionship'. Hoffmann's daughter Eva Hoffmann was hired by the New York State Fair for a $45,000 a year marketing job for which no one else was interviewed. The position was also not advertised. In 2004 she was challenged in the Republican primary by Tom Dadey, a conservative activist. During the election Hoffmann said she would not force a primary if the majority of Republican committees did not endorse her. In a defeat for the incumbent senator all of the four committees supported Dadey, but Hoffmann still waged a primary. Hoffmann defeated Dadey in the Republican primary and faced a general election with Democrat David Valesky and Dadey, who was the nominee of the New York Conservative Party. She narrowly lost to Valesky in the three way race.
In 2006, she indicated that she would run for Lieutenant Governor in the upcoming election. Questions were raised in local papers about where she would find support, as the major contenders for the Republican nomination declined to meet with her. On May 19, 2006, she announced that she was dropping out of the race. She indicated that she wanted to concentrate on a non profit she founded that brings high school students to the South called the Civil Rights Connection. During her tenure in office she had directed hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars towards the Civil Rights Connection when it was a legislative program. After her defeat in the 2004 election, thousands of dollars of computer, photographic and other materials were transferred to the nonprofit raising ethical questions.
Most recently, Hoffmann held a press conference to give advice to Elliot Spitzer regarding reform. Only two reporters showed up and no other elected officals were present.